In a typical cellular radio system, wireless terminals (also referred to as wireless mobile terminals, user terminals and/or user equipment nodes or UEs, mobile stations, etc.) communicate via a radio access network (RAN) with one or more core networks. The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into cell areas, with each cell area being served by a RAN node, e.g., a radio base station (BS), which in some networks is also called a “NodeB” or enhanced NodeB “eNodeB.” A cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the base station equipment at a base station site. The base stations communicate through radio communication channels with UEs within the coverage area of the base stations. The type of radio communication channels utilized between the base station and the UE define the radio access technology (RAT). There are circuit-switched radio access technologies that support circuit-switched operations, for example CDMA (code division multiple access) or GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), and there are packet-data radio access technologies that support packet-data operations, for example High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP/3GPP2).
A Radio Access Network may provide voice and/or data communication for subscriber wireless terminals. A Radio Access Network, for example, may provide couplings between a wireless application service device (also referred to as a service device) or devices and one or more remote application servers. In a direct access network, the network may be overloaded when a number of wireless application service devices connected directly to the Radio Access Network exceeds network capacity. To reduce a number of service devices connecting directly to the Radio Access Network, a nested architecture may be provided whereby a plurality of application service devices are networked through a common wireless terminal (also referred to as a transport device) providing communications with the Radio Access Network.
By way of example, a plurality of wireless service devices may be coupled (via wired and/or wireless link such as Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.) to a common wireless transport device providing a communication link between the plurality of wireless service devices through the Radio Access Network to an application server(s). The wireless transport device may thus serve as a concentrator that provides transport of service information between an application service device(s) and an application server(s) through the Radio Access Network.
Even in light of communications discussed above, there continues to exist demand for improved methods/devices supporting access through Radio Access Networks between application service devices and application servers. For example, existing methods may not be adequate for mobile M2M applications.